February 13, 2006Bush Learned Within Three Hours That Cheney Shot Hunter
By MARIA NEWMAN (NYT)

President Bush was informed within three hours that Vice President Dick Cheney had shot a fellow hunter in South Texas on Saturday afternoon, the White House said today.

The shooting, which occurred at about 5:30 p.m., left a prominent Austin lawyer and Republican campaign supporter, Harry Whittington, wounded by shotgun pellets in the neck, shoulder and chest.

"Chief of Staff Andy Card called the president around 7:30 p.m. to inform him that there was a hunting accident," a statement released late today by the White House said. "He did not know the vice president was involved at that time. Subsequent to the call, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove spoke with Mrs. Armstrong. He then called the president shortly before 8:00 p.m. to update him and let him know the Vice President had accidentally shot Mr. Whittington..."

Scott McClellan, the president's spokesman, was questioned intensely by the White House press corps today about why the White House never released the information itself and why it was left to a private citizen to report to the world that the vice president of the United States had been involved in a shooting.

They also seemed frustrated that Mr. McClellan could not tell them at the briefing exactly when Mr. Bush learned that the vice president himself had shot Mr. Whittington...

Mr. McClellan would not answer questions about whether Mr. Cheney had called the president himself to tell him about it.

Mr. McClellan seemed on the defensive several times during the briefing about why the fullest accounts of the incident seemed to come from Ms. Armstrong, who told The Associated Press and CNN on Sunday that it was her idea to go to the press.

"I said, Mr. Vice President, this is going to be public, and I'm comfortable going to the hometown newspaper," she told The A.P. in a telephone interview. "And he said, you go ahead and do whatever you are comfortable doing."

I just watched this on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer". I had read it yesterday, so no big deal. Why the hell does it sound like their hiding something? It's like their not really telling the truth, like there is more to this story, like something is being covered up? Just by the way the info has/is coming out? They have to spin this? WTF?

I just watched this on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer". I had read it yesterday, so no big deal. Why the hell does it sound like their hiding something? It's like their not really telling the truth, like there is more to this story, like something is being covered up? Just by the way the info has/is coming out? They have to spin this? WTF?

Its called the left winged media trying to make something out of nothing. I thought it was really sad to watch the white house press conference i thought it was a joke and some of the big named news figures where there asking the most retarded questions i was like these people need to be all shoot. The media in the US is just a disgrace.

"Good news, ladies and gentlemen; we have finally located a weapon of mass destruction. ... It's Dick Cheney," David Letterman said in his CBS Late Night monologue.

And, "We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney."

NBC's Jay Leno said: "When the ambulance got there, out of force of habit they put Cheney on the stretcher. No, the other guy!"

Jon Stewart tackled the Cheney topic on his Comedy Central show, saying Cheney's shooting made Whittington the first person shot by a sitting vice president since Alexander Hamilton. "Hamilton, of course, shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington? Mistaken for a bird."

One of the Cheney jokes in ABC's Jimmy Kimmel's mix: "You know what they say, if Dick Cheney comes out of his hole and shoots an old man in the face, six more weeks of winter."

Bob Cesca, a blogger at www.Huffingtonpost.com, Ariana Huffington's website, said Cheney was fodder all day long. "Nothing could be funnier than the lead of a story which is the vice president has shot a man in the face. It's unbelievable."

His blog elicited message-board postings about hunting "Wepubwican Wawyers" (think Elmer Fudd) and lots of cracks about how it's a good thing Cheney got deferments from serving in the Vietnam War given his marksmanship skills.

At the Huffington site, visitors could even play The Dick Cheney Quail Hunting Game, which directs an animated Cheney to shoot a bird in mid-air. Of course, once you press the shoot button, Cheney swings around and hits a nearby human.

Its called the left winged media trying to make something out of nothing. I thought it was really sad to watch the white house press conference i thought it was a joke and some of the big named news figures where there asking the most retarded questions i was like these people need to be all shoot. The media in the US is just a disgrace.

I just watched this on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer". I had read it yesterday, so no big deal. Why the hell does it sound like their hiding something? It's like their not really telling the truth, like there is more to this story, like something is being covered up? Just by the way the info has/is coming out? They have to spin this? WTF?

I just watched this on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer". I had read it yesterday, so no big deal. Why the hell does it sound like their hiding something? It's like their not really telling the truth, like there is more to this story, like something is being covered up? Just by the way the info has/is coming out? They have to spin this? WTF?

Not that it is indicative of anything mind you...

That's my point...I thought it was "No big thing" but seeing the news it looked like a cover up of something. Again WTF?